Molting the Mortal Coil

Unlike a traditional wedding banquet, which would consist of the bride and groom spending much of their time thanking guests for attending and trading blessings and well wishes, this wedding banquet was much more like Sage had taken his new wife to a carnival.

They didn’t mind. They’d already had a meal with those they cared about in the afternoon. Aside from her bridesmaids, the only other person Jiao cared for in the Zhu Clan was her Aunt Ping, and she had been there with them. For the rest of these people, she was already over them. The Zhu Clan was far from being as evil and corrupt as some of the groups that Sage had run into on this world, but they were also not what he’d call kind.

After putting aside their concerns they went from pavilion to pavilion watching performances and playing small games. It was a tradition to try and trick the bride and groom into public displays of affection at a wedding. Everyone was supposed to be extremely reserved and respectful at all other times, so this was the chance for everyone to cut loose and tease the newlyweds. Or at least that was the usual way things ran. At this banquet, there were more guests than family members, so the games were not aimed at the newlyweds.

Instead, anyone could participate. Rich businessmen would be paired off with young women and they’d flirt and sit together, pouring drinks and telling stories. Then the game would start and they’d blindfold all the men. The men would have to touch the hands of each of the young women and try to guess which one he was spending time with, making a choice by kissing the hand. The games had changed from the teasing of newlyweds to the sorts of things that could only be found from courtesans at a teasehouse after dark.

For Sage this was all extremely tame, and Jiao had grown up being taught how to play such games to manipulate people, so the two of them walked right past. Instead, they were playing small games of chance and skill, like trying to toss the square hole in a coin onto a peg, or fishing out fruit from water with their mouths.

They had to spend some time greeting everyone who had come to ‘their’ wedding banquet, but eventually they got through the night without issue. He was inclined to give the Zhu Clan a talking to, but his rationality won out. He’d already taken Jiao away from them. She no longer had to suffer in their clan, but she still held feelings for many of them as she’d grown up there. If he wasn’t planning on destroying them, then it was better to maintain at least an amicable relationship with the Zhu Clan. While not individually powerful, they had strong ties to many other groups. It was better to treat these new in-laws with neutrality, rather than make dozens of groups into enemies.

After the second wedding banquet, they returned to the venue of the wedding and first banquet. The original tradition was to have weddings held at his own home, but given the multiple provinces of distance and also the loss of his home for a second time, they rented a large estate for this occasion. They returned ‘home’ to rest, and then on the third day after the wedding they returned to the Zhu Clan for the last tradition they had to follow.

They arrived at the Zhu Clan and the gates were not opened up to allow Jiao entrance. Instead, they had to follow the procedure of the Lang Clan paying a visit. Now that she was Lang Jiao, and not Zhu Jiao any longer, this visit was symbolic in nature. She was no longer part of the Zhu and was now a member of the Lang. They met with the Zhu Clan members that had attended their wedding, those that were relatively closer to Jiao, and they all treated each other as honored guests rather than family members. Mainly, this had to do with the changing of titles. In this language there was a title for older brother, second older brother, younger brother, second younger brother and so on. This also applied to every generation. It wasn’t just ‘Uncle’, but ‘second elder brother of my father’. At this time, Jiao no longer used these titles, referring to them as esteemed elders instead.

As for what they did at the Zhu Clan, it wasn’t much. Merely having tea and a meal, while exchanging pleasantries. It was merely a tradition to visit the bride’s family on the third day and make this distinction of a change in family. It was nothing unusual for the Zhu Clan, in fact they also followed the opposite tradition. As a matriarchal clan, they quite often had men marry into their family, becoming Zhu rather than the opposite.

With that formality out of the way, they had only one final task. Jiao met privately with those closest to her. Sage didn’t join the meeting in order to give them a chance to speak in private. Jiao might not see any of them again for quite a long time, but that was also part of the reason for her to hold the meeting. She was going to make the offer for them to come along with her. Sage waited patiently in a guest room, using this opportunity to do some meditation training. A few hours later, the small gathering came to an end and Jiao found him.

“How did it go?”

Jiao sighed and shook her head, “They are too well trained. The Clan is too good at making girl’s not only accept their future life, but embrace it.”

Sage frowned and shook his head, “So none of them want to come away with you?”

“None of my sisters wish to leave. They all want to do their duty and marry for the benefit of the Clan.”

“No one wishes to go with you? I’m sorry.”

Jiao shook her head, “No, there is one: my Aunt Ping.”

Sage smiled and reached over to stroke her hair, “That’s good. You said she is like a mother to you, right?”

Jiao nodded and they embraced each other.

The next day, back at the compound they rented, Zhu Ping showed up with a few dozen servants, attendants and guards. She was decently ranked in the Zhu Clan. Her power had not been great enough to stop Jiao from being betrothed after the mistakes she made, but she was not completely powerless. Zhu Ping stepped down from her duties and brought her ‘household’ along with her to accompany Jiao.

Given that this woman wanted to stop his betrothal, Sage was not on the best of terms with this woman in the beginning. At that time, he was merely following the orders set out by his Ancestor and this woman was getting in the way. Even so, she did it out of love, so there was no way he actually had any hard feelings for her. Especially since the one she was trying to protect was now his wife. The initial resentment had now turned to joy. He was glad that Jiao wasn’t going to be ‘alone’.

After greeting them, they reorganized the carriages and Demonic Beast mounts before setting out again. Zhu Ping was not pleased to start traveling so immediately, but those on the Lang Clan side ignored her protests. After leaving Plum Lantern City and traveling into the wilderness for a few hours, they came to a stop.

“Is this as far as we’re traveling for today? Why didn’t we just stay in town for the night and start early in the morning? This is absolutely ridiculous! Is your new husband a fool?”